


Of Angels and Demons

by lexiecat2468



Series: Shadows don't scare me anymore [1]
Category: Homestuck, Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Blood, Developing Relationship, Downworlders, F/F, F/M, I do try to not use so much foul language but still, M/M, Mortal Instruments/City of Bones crossover, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shadowhunters - Freeform, The Clave, Vampires, Warlocks, Werewolves, bad language, could get vilolent, demon hunting, humanstuck trolls, other shadowhunter stuff too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2014-05-06
Packaged: 2018-01-01 05:52:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexiecat2468/pseuds/lexiecat2468
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Egbert has a nice, easy life. He likes having fun, and is happy just living with his dad. But when he goes to some club he's never been to before a witnesses a murder that only he can see, things go all out of whack. Suddenly John is tossed into the world of Shadowhunters, demons, and Downworlders along with everything in between. Dave Strider, a cocky blonde Shadowhunter, promises to show and teach John everything he needs to know about this new, wild world he's now a part of.</p><p>And when Lord English, one of the most vile and evil of the Shadowhunters return, John realizes he's going to need all of the help he can get to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something you Don't see Everyday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [my little sister!](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=my+little+sister%21).



> ~~Please note that this probably won't exactly follow the Mortal Instruments series exactly! There will be some twists and turns that you might not see coming! But I hope you enjoy it just as much! Thanks for taking the time to read this!~~

Your name is John Egbert, and you haven’t really seen that many strange things in your short lifetime. Sure, some of the things that your Dad does can be kinda weird… But it’s never scared you for life or anything. Although in all honesty, you’ve never done anything too dangerous or anything to begin with.  
Maybe that’s why you’re getting so excited right now. Going to some club you’ve never heard of before and partying like you’ve never partied before. You look around the packed building, watching the masses of people move and grind together to the beat of some Skrillex song you’ve never heard before. You smile a little to yourself, even though you kinda wish you brought a friend along with you. It’s feels weird not knowing anyone… But you guess you could always try making new friends! That’s always kinda fun!  
You start making your way through the crowd, looking at the different people. Let’s see… Who should you talk to… Your smile widens when you notice a nice looking guy with a mess of black hair leaving the dancefloor. You could try talking to him! You start following him, making sure not to lose sight of his back. You find yourself humming along the techno beat as you manage to squeeze out of the group behind him.  
You’re about to open your mouth to say hi, or hey, or whatever it is that came to your mind in the two seconds you had to think before speaking when some blonde guy with stupid shades on his face walks up to the guy, smirking a bit as he lays a hand on the other’s shoulder. You know you should probably go find someone else, but you can’t help but wait to see if you could talk to one or maybe both of them.  
“Figured you’d be here,” the blonde one says over the music, still smirking. The other says something you can’t catch, and the blonde simply laughs.  
“That shit don’t work on me, and you know it bub.” The blonde says, his tone light like he’s sharing a well-known joke, “So why don’t you just go back to hell?” With that the blonde raises a sword that you didn’t even notice he had in his hand. He promptly stabs the black-haired guy in the chest, the look on his face one that can only be described as bored.  
That’s when you scream.  
The blonde’s gaze snaps over to you as he tugs the blade from the chest of his victim. You stumble back as the body falls to the ground, folding in on itself. Within moments it was like there was no body there at all. You stare at the ground in shock for a few minutes before someone manages to snap you out of your shock. They ask you what’s wrong.  
You point with a shaky finger to the blonde murderer in front of you. “Th-that guy just killed somebody!” You hear murmurs behind you before someone clears their throat.  
“Kid… There’s no one there.”  
You jaw falls open as you stare at the boy apparently only you can see. He tilts his head, like you fascinate him. You flinch slightly as he raises his hand, then makes a motion for you to follow him. You swallow, barely hearing people as they ask you if you’re alright.  
“I’m fine…” You mutter, debating to yourself. Who is that guy? Why did he kill the other guy like that? Better yet, why can only you see him? Should you follow him…?  
You take a deep breath and glance up, and to your surprise the guy is gone. You look around a bit wildly, then spot him disappearing into a room marked ‘employees only’. Apparently he didn’t want to wait and see if you would choose to follow him.  
You hesitate a moment longer, then dash after him.


	2. Enter Dave Strider

You stop outside the door, glancing around. You’ve got to be smart about this… Not just charge after him like an idiot… There is no way you’re being his next victim! You pause, then reach over and grab some sort of stick thing that the club uses for decoration. It’s plastic, but it has to be better than nothing, right? You take a deep breath, then push open the door and slip inside.  
The door closes behind you, and you blink to adjust to the lighting. You see the guy leaning against the wall, and you can assume he’s looking you over. It’s kinda hard to tell with those stupid sunglasses he’s wearing. From where you’re standing, you can make out black tattoos weaving up his arms and even peeking out from the collar of his shirt. You’re the first to speak, trying to keep yourself from staring at him like an idiot.  
“That… That sword you got. Can you like… Put it on the ground? I wanna be able to see it...” The guy snickers in reply.  
“Nice job trying to take charge, kid. Gotta respect that. I’m not planin’ on hurtin’ you or anything. See?” He speaks slowly, like he’s addressing a child. There’s a slight southern twang to his accent. Texas maybe….?  
You’re so distracted by how his voice sounds you almost don’t notice he’s pulled out the sword until he moves to gently lay it on the ground. You stare down at the blade before looking back up at him. You don’t loosen your grip on your makeshift weapon just yet, not fully trusting him.  
“At least you weren’t a complete idiot,” he states, indicating your piece of plastic. “But it’s not all that threatening. You might as well shout ‘boo’ or somethin’.”  
You huff a bit. “That’s not really important right now! Who are you? Why did you kill that guy? How come only I can see you?”  
He holds up his hand, stopping the torrent of questions from your mouth. “Easy does it. I can only answer one question at a time. Sorry to disappoint you.” You simply huff again.  
He smirks and says, calm as can be, “I’m Dave. Dave Strider. But you can call me the man of your dreams, if you want.”  
Your face grows hot. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”  
“You’re right. How about you just call me anytime?” He nods a bit, deciding that sounds good.  
“Oh my god…”  
“Alright, alright. Now… Where were we? Oh right. Your second question. I killed that ‘guy’ because he wasn’t human and I’ve been tracking him for weeks.”  
You blink a bit, confused. “What…?”  
“Here we go. Step one. Initial shock. It always happens when you learn demons are real. It happens.”  
“Demons? No way… You’re lying…” You mutter, head spinning.  
“Bingo. You’ve just entered step two. Denial’s not just a river in Egypt.” He leans back, a small smirk on his face.  
You shoot him a glare. “Sh-shut up! I’m trying to think…”  
“What’s there to think about? Demons are real. A bunch of other stuff too. Things that would send you crying to your mamma.”  
You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to tune him out for a moment. He must be pulling some kind of prank… There’s no way something as awful as demons exist…  
“Hey.” His voice causes you to pull your eyes open and glance over at him. “Think about it. Really think. Remember the body? It folded in on itself and disappeared, right? You saw it happen. Stuff like that ain’t normal, is it?”  
You hesitantly shake your head. “But…”  
“But…?” He raises an eyebrow.  
“But how come I was the only one who could see you? And you killing that… That demon…?”  
He leans forward a bit, looking you over. “That’s what I wanna find out.”  
You frown a bit. “You mean you don’t know?”  
He simply shakes his head in reply, causing you to let out an exasperated sigh. “Great. So I might just be crazy and you might not even be real.”  
To your surprise, he laughs. “That’s some great positive thinking you got there. Wow, kid. But joking aside, I can promise you I’m very real.”  
You roll your eyes a bit. “That’s probably what someone who’s fake would say.”  
He shrugs, calm as can be. “Probably. But it’s true. I’m real, whether you like it or not. And I really don’t know how you could see me. But I do want to find out, as I said. What about you?”  
You blink. “Huh?”  
“Don’t you want to find out why? Aren’t you curious?”  
“Well… Yeah. Of course I am.”  
“Great.” He relaxes a bit, smiling. “I know just where we could go, if you’re up for it.”  
You stare at him for a moment.  
God, you know you’re probably going to regret this…  
                                                                                            ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Your name is Dave Strider, and hunts aren’t supposed to go like this. Should they? Hell, have your hunts been wrong all of this time and you never knew it?  
Because running into a cute guy who can see you while you’re wearing a stealth rune?  
You can’t say that happens every time you go to take care of a pest. Not that you’re complaining. Really, you’re not.  
You glance over at the black-haired little buck-toothed kid beside you. He keeps glancing around, like he’s waiting for another demon to pop out of nowhere. He also shoots glances at you, when he thinks you’re not looking. Either he doesn’t trust you yet or finds you very attractive. As much as you hope it’s the second, it’s more likely that he just doesn’t trust you yet. What a downer.  
“So.” He jumps, slightly startled by you suddenly speaking. What is he, a bunny?  
“Huh?” He asks, his voice squeaking slightly.  
“I can’t help but notice you’ve never told me your name. I did tell you mine. Common courtesy an’ shit.” You see him roll your eyes at you as you two keep walking. He doesn’t relpy right away. Well.  
“John,” He says, so softly you almost miss it.  
“John what?” You prod.  
“John None-of-your-business.” He retorts. You chuckle a bit.  
“Yeah, alright. I’ll settle for John None-of-my-business,” You hum as you keep walking. John looks up at you.  
“So where are we going again?”  
“The Institute. It’s where I kinda live with my brother and some other people.” You shrug as you glance down at him.  
“And you and your brother along with all of these other people are…?”  
“Shadowhunters. Or, if you like being fancy, Nephilim. Basically we’re demon hunters. And we also make sure all of the Downworlders do what they’re supposed to.”  
“What’s a Downworlder?”  
“Yeah, I should have know you were gonna ask that. Downworlders can be anything from vampires to werewolves to fairies. See…” You trail off, thinking. “Well it’s gonna take a bit of explaining. And by a bit, I mean a lot. It’d be best if we waited until we get to the Institute.”  
“How much farther is it?” He asks.  
“Not much longer.” You point up ahead. “See it?” You watch him as he squints.  
“... That’s just an old dilapidated church!” You chuckle a bit, causing him to stare up at you with a mix of horror and anger.  
“That’s just a glamor. The same thing that hid me from everyone but you. Try relaxing and looking again.” You watch him as he stares at the church different emotions passing over his face.  
“Oh!” He announces soon enough, “I see it! You live there??”  
You nod, and start walking a bit faster. “Yeah. Come on, I’ll give you the grand tour.”  
You hear his quick footsteps behind you. “Really?”  
“Yeah, sure. Why not?”  
“Wow!”  
You force back a smile. This damn kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnd another chapter is done! It's a bit longer than the last so I hope it helps with the wait until the next one! 
> 
> Have a good week everyone!!


	3. Just a Bit of a Shock

You push open the front door to the church, your home, and lead John inside.

“Only a Shadowhunter, someone like me, can open the doors,” you explain as you walk. You hear his footsteps beside you, and you take the chance to sneak a look over at him. His blue eyes are wide as he looks around, mouth hanging opening in awe. It’s pretty… cute.

Shit. You quickly glance away and keep walking forward. Nope nope nope. You need to stop thoughts like this right now. If you don’t, you’ll get in real deep crap. You’ll have to deal with the stuttering and the blushing and then you’ll get distracted and have trouble hunting and now you’re rambling and really need to shut up. Shut up Dave. Like, now.

You’re so busy with your little mental ramble spree that you miss John asking you a question.

“Hmm? Can you repeat that?” You say, as you keep leading him down hallways.

“I asked why there’s so many doors. Do a lot of people live here?” He says, still looking around.

“Shadowhunters,” you correct. “And no, not that many people live here. Just me, my bro, this guy, and his sister.” You count off each person with your fingers, glancing over at him once you’re finished. He’s staring up at you in disbelief.

“Only four of you? But there’s so many rooms!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. But it’s housing for other Shadowhunters when they come visiting. We can’t turn them away, you know.”

“I guess that makes sense.” He says, and you nod in agreement. There’s a pause before he asks another question. “So where are we going?”

“The crypt. Or, as my bro wants me to call it, the workshop. But it’s in the crypt, so I call it the crypt.”

“Yeah, I could have guessed that. Why you call it the crypt, I mean.” John shrugs a bit as you lead him to a set of dark set of stairs spiraling downward. You reach into your pocket and pull out a small stone.

You see John open his mouth, but you speak before he gets his question out. “It’s a witchlight stone. Or I guess you could call it a ‘magic rock’ if you really want to.” As you finish the sentence, light spills out between your fingers from the witchlight. John blinks a bit before nodding, and you then turn and lead the way down the stairs.

“So what does that stone of yours run on?”

“Nothing, in all honesty,” You shrug, causing the light to bob a bit with your arm.

“Huh. So… It really is a magic rock.”

“That’s why I said you could call it that if you wanted to.” You look back at him just in time to see him shrug carelessly himself, and then continue going down the stairs.

The rest of the trip down goes in relative silence, John only pipes up once to complain about how it seems to be getting colder. You simply snort and tell him it’s because the two of you are going deeper into the ground.

Which is true, you are. At some point even you begin to feel goose-bumps forming on your arms. How the hell can he stay down here practically all day? You shake your head a bit to yourself as you start to ponder your brother’s sanity. But really. Like you have room to talk.

You finally put out the witchlight when you reach the bottom of the stairs. You glance around at the workbenches and robotic parts everywhere before settling your gaze on the blonde with his back to you, hunched over some device and pouring all of his attention into it.

Dirk seems pretty busy.

You’re still going to bug him.

You clear your throat, “Would it kill ya to put up some actual lights in that stairway?”   

Dirk doesn’t bother to turn around, “Shut up. We’ve talked about that before, and I’m not going to go over it again. What the hell do you want?”

You glance over at John beside you, who is currently watching your brother intently. “I brought someone for you to meet.”

You look back over at your brother to see him stiffen, and he quickly turns around. Damn, he’s not even wearing his shades. Now you know he really was working hard. You still don’t feel that guilty, though. Striders don’t feel guilt.

You see the different emotions pass through Dirk’s eyes as he looks at John. John just gives a hesitant little wave.

“What. The. Hell,” Dirk says slowly, looking back at you. “Why the hell did you bring a mundane here?!”

You shrug your shoulders, “Well you see John here and I fell madly in love and shit. I’m here to ask for your blessing for our very gay marriage.”  John makes a noise of disbelief beside you, but you don’t even bother to glance over at him.

“Dave, stop screwing around and tell me the truth.”

“Seriously can’t you take a joke? Jesus.” You sigh, rubbing the back of your neck, “I was chasing down that demon I’ve been tracking. You remember? Yeah. Anyway, it went into some club, probably looking for some prey, and I followed it. When I managed to kill it I heard a scream, and sure enough it was this kid here. He could see right through my stealth rune and watched me put the damn thing down. So,” You sum up, “I brought him here.”

“Um… Hi. My name’s John…?” John smiles shyly at your brother, nervous.

“Dirk.” He says bluntly to John before turning to you, “So, what are you thinking? He could still be a mundane with the Sight.”

You shrug. “Maybe, maybe not. But I intend to find out the truth. And so does John. Right?” You look down at him, waiting.

He nods. “Yeah. I… I want to know too.” You feel the corners of your lips twitch in a ghost of an almost smile. You then turn your attention back to Dirk, waiting.

You watch Dirk rake a hand through his hair, gaze going from you to John, then back to you, and finally back to John.

“You want answers kid?” He asks slowly. John nods in reply, and you mentally punch your fist in the air.

Dirk sighs before grabbing his shades. “Alright, then. Let’s see what we can do.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Your name is John Egbert, and you still can’t get over the fact that Dave lives in this place as you follow his brother down the halls. Dave is right beside you, his arm ghosting over yours every now and again. For some odd reason, it comforts you knowing he’s beside you. You feel… Safer.

Not like you fully trust the guy yet. But you do trust him more than… What’s his brother’s name again… Dirk, right? Yeah. Dirk. No offense to the guy, you’re sure he’s very nice. But you don’t exactly know anything about him yet.

But you guess you could kind of say the same thing about Dave…

Arg! Enough of those thoughts John! You’re going to get yourself all paranoid and won’t be able to sit still and they’ll think you’re all weird and stuff. You shake your head, trying to shake out all of those thoughts.

You catch Dave looking tilting his head as he watches you out of the corner of your eye, and you feel your face grow warm. You stare straight ahead, not wanting to know whatever sassy comment he might have for you.

Thankfully, Dave stays quiet. Score. You follow Dirk as he heads up to two huge wooden doors and pulls one open, heading inside. It seems you’ve reached your destination. Double score. You follow Dirk inside.

And jesus wow this is a big library. You just kind of stand there for a minute, looking around in awe with your mouth hanging open. Your eyes try to scan every inch of the room, looking at everything.

You’re only pulled from your thoughts when Dave snickers softly. You frown as you look up at him.  “What? Are you laughing at me?”

Dave pulls a straight face. Arrrrg. “What? Me? Pssh. No way. Why would I be laughing at you? Seriously, dude. Self centered much?” He seems to chuckle a little at his own comment as he strides past you, following his brother deeper into the library.

You swear you didn’t watch his butt. You swear.

No, you just huffed and followed him, keeping your eyes upward. Yep. That’s exactly what happened.

You follow Dave over to a large table in the center of the room. Dave sits in a chair as Dirk walks over to a bookshelf, looking over the books. You hesitate, then sit in a chair next to Dave.  You watch his brother intently.

After a few moments of searching, Dirk finally seem to find the book he’s looking for and heads over to the table, sitting across from you and Dave. He flips open the book, scanning the pages.

“So… What’s your name?” He asks, not looking up.

You frown a bit. “Dave told you. It’s John.”  

“Your full name.”

You shift a bit in your seat glancing up at Dave, then over at Dirk. Do you really trust these guys? Can you really give them your full name…? How badly do you want to figure out what’s going on…?

After another moment’s thought you sigh a bit, defeated by your own curiosity. “Jonathan Gregory Egbert.” You glance up at Dave to see his reaction, and all you get is an eyebrow slightly raised.

Dirk sighs from across the table. “Well your last name isn’t a usual Shadowhunter name… So there’s only two things I can think of.”

“What are they?” Dave leans forward, showing a lot of interest. Huh.

“He’s not a Shadowhunter, or he does what we do.” Dirk shrugs a bit.

“What do you do?” You ask, looking at the two of them. Dave looks over at you.

“We call ourselves by a different name. See, our Shadowhunter name is actually ‘Shadowhawk’, but usually when we meet people we go by Strider. That way it doesn’t seem as suspicious,” Dave explains.

You frown down at the table, thinking. “Huh…” Shadowhawk does sound weird… You try to remember if you’ve ever seen or heard a strange name like that before…

“Merryheart.” The word slips from your lips before you even know what you’re saying. Dave makes a surprised almost cough noise from next to you as Dirk snaps his head up.

“What did you say?” It’s Dirk who’s the first to speak, causing you to blink in surprise.  

“M-Merryheart? I dunno it just came to me… I think I might have seen it in one of my dad’s old books or something… I…” You frown a bit. “I can’t remember…”

You look at the both of them, your frown deepening. “What?? Why are you looking at me like that??”

“There was a Shadowhunter with the name Merryheart,” Dirk says slowly, “He disappeared almost nineteen years ago. He was probably one of the best Shadowhunters in the US.”

“So?” You keep frowning, trying to piece this together.  

“Now that you mention it…” Dave mumbles, “I can see the resemblance…”

You turn to look at him. “What?? What do you mean?? What’s going on?!?!”

Dirk pauses, then pushes a picture towards you. “This is a picture of Merryheart,” He says softly. With a determined huff, you scoop up with picture and look it open.

Your mouth falls open in surprise a second later as you stare at the picture with a mixture of shock and awe. There’s no way…

But it has to be…

The man in the picture is your father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait! I tried to make this chapter a bit longer to make up for it!  
> I also got the Shadowhunter's Codex for Christmas! It's been very helpful! Thanks to it, I was able to come up with everyone Shadowhunter names! (I hope you liked them!)  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> 


	4. This Can't be Happening

Your name is John Egbert, and this can’t be real. You’ve just decided. You’re dreaming. You must be. You swallow a bit as you keep staring down at the picture in your hands, waiting for it to change, for you to wake up, anything. It has to happen. Because. This. Isn’t. Real. It can’t be!

“John.” It’s Dave’s gentle voice that snaps you out of your trance. You bolt up out of your chair, causing said chair to fall back and crash to the ground. The sound is oddly loud in the quiet of the library.

Dirk watches you calmly. “So. I take it you recognized him.” You stare at him for a moment, mouth hanging open.

“There… There must be some kind of mistake! How the hell do you have a picture of my dad?!” You’re shouting, but you don’t care. You just want answers.

“We have a picture of your dad because he’s a Shadowhunter. … Like you,” Dave says softly from beside you. You quickly turn to look at him. Dave’s just looking up at you, his face as calm as can be.

“Think, John,” Dave continues. “I mean really think here. You probably have seen hints about your father’s past and you never even knew it. Like… Um…” Dave pauses, thinking. “Ah. Look here.” He holds out his arm and pushes his sleeve up.

He points to an almost silvery scar. It kinda looks like a squiggly line… Like the rest of Dave’s tattoos. They actually… Kinda… Remind you of something.

You blink, the memory rushing back to you. Silver scars looking similar to that… On your dad… You remember seeing them running up and along his arms when he had pushed up his sleeves while baking… Seeing them all over his chest and back when he took you to the beach when you were little. They seemed so unimportant back then… Is that why you’re only remembering them now…?

You’re pulled from your thoughts by Dirk’s voice, “So, John… Is anything coming back to you…?”

You hesitate a moment, then nod. “Yeah… I think so… My dad… He did have scars like that. I guess I just didn’t remember until now…”

Dave scratches the back of his head, frowning. “Yeah okay. So one mystery is solved. But it only leads to more questions.” You raise an eyebrow at him.

“More questions? Like what exactly?” You huff a bit.  

“Well I mean come on. You’re a Shadowhunter, so you have the Sight. And you’re how old exactly? Point is, you’ve had all these years to see demons or fairies or whatnot. But why only start seeing things now?” Dave frowns a bit, “It doesn’t really add up, does it.”

You blink, thinking. “Well… Um…” You frown a bit after thinking some more. “Huh….”

Dirk nods a bit, “That’s true… We could always…”

“Wait,” You interrupt, “I know it’d be great to know more about me, but when do I get to learn about you guys? I wanna know more about Shadowhunters.”  

There’s quiet for a moment or two as you look back and forth at Dave and his brother, waiting for one of them to start explaining.

Dave finally starts laughing after a bit. You frown at him as he continues.  Finally he manages to sputter out, “Oh jesus… You’re great, John. Just top notch.”

You huff a bit, “Well I don’t see how that’s so funny!”

“Just ignore him, John.” Dirk smirks a bit as he settles down in his chair, “If you want to learn about what you are that’s fine. But you might want to pull up a chair. This could take a while.”

You pause then turn and fix your chair, carefully pulling it back up to the table and sit down. You look at Dirk, waiting. “Okay, I’m ready now.”

Dirk clears his throat, then begins talking. “We Nephilim, or Shadowhunters, are the appointed warriors on Earth of Angel Raziel. We are appointed specifically to control and preside over the evil, mostly demonic, in our world. That includes demons and the supernatural-like creatures. Almost a thousand years ago, Raziel--”

“Wait,” You interrupt. “You keep using that name. Who’s the Raziel guy?”

Dirk snorts a bit, “He’s not just some guy, if that’s what you’re wondering. Raziel is an angel, whose blood is pulsing through all of our veins.”

You blink. “I’ve got angel blood in me??”

“All Shadowhunters do,” Dave shrugs. “It’s what makes us who we are.”

“Raziel didn’t just give us his blood, though.” Dirk continues, seeing the opportunity to, “Raziel also gave us tools to help keep the evil forces under control. They are the Mortal Instruments, the--”

“Wait, wait.” You interrupt again, scratching your head, “What are the Mortal Instruments?”

“The Mortal Instruments are the greatest gifts ever entrusted to the Nephilim,” Dave says bluntly.

Dirk nods in agreement. “Without them we wouldn’t be here. The Mortal Instruments are the Mortal Cup, the Mortal Sword, and the Mirror.”

You snort a bit. “You sure it’s not the ‘Mortal Mirror’?”

Dirk smirks a bit as he replies, “It sometimes is called the Mortal Glass.”

You roll your eyes, muttering under your breath, “Of course it is.”

Dirk chuckles a bit. “As I was saying, we were given the Mortal Instruments, the country of Idris, and then finally, the Book of Raziel, or Grey book. Any questions so far?”

You rub your temples. “Oh my god. Yes. A thousand million questions.” You pause, thinking of what to ask first.

“Demons.” You announce, “Why do they come here of all places? What do they want?” Learning about Shadowhunters and Raziel makes your head hurt. You can come back to that.

Dirk hesitates, then starts speaking hesitantly, “...We don’t know for sure. There are many different stories, different theories. Some think that the Earth belonged to demons at first, but they were banished. So maybe they’re just trying to take back what was theirs. But as I said, no one knows. So that may not be the truth. Hell, they may instead represent the spirit of evil in our world, in a way. As for individual demons, they just come to wreak havoc.”

You nod a little. “Okay… So can they speak English?”

“Common demons can’t speak any human languages. Some species, however, can almost parrot our speech. They have their own language.”

“So if I run into a demon…” You frown a bit, “Can it possess me?”

Dirk groans. “What is up with mundanes and the obsession of demons taking over their bodies? No. It’s very rare and requires a very very powerful Greater Demon.”

“Huh. Okay. So…” You’re about to ask another question, but the Ghostbusters theme begins to play, causing you, and even Dave to jump.

“What the hell?” Dave grumbles as you quickly start digging through your pockets, looking for your phone.

“Shut up! It’s a great movie!” You huff at him as you manage to pull out your phone and check it. “Oh! It’s my dad!”

“Maybe we could ask him some questions.” Dirk shrugs as you answer and bring your phone up to your ear.

“Dad! Hi! Don’t worry I’m heading home!” You say quickly as you stand, earning a frown from Dave.

“No! Son, please. Don’t come home. You can’t, it’s not safe.” Your father’s voice sounds panicked in your ear, and it instantly causes a horrible, sick feeling in your chest.

“What?? Dad what’s wrong? Are you okay??” Dave’s head snaps up, and he watches you carefully.

“Don’t come home, alright?? John, I’m proud of you. I lov--” Your dad’s voice is cut off with a cry. There’s some muffled thumps, and then the line goes dead.

You end up screaming ‘Dad?!’ into your phone, and your throat starts to hurt a bit. You feel someone gently tug your phone away from you, and your head snaps up. Dave’s looking down at you, his expression unreadable.

“What happened?” He asks, and you shakily tell him what your dad said. Dave frowns, and looks back at Dirk once you’re finished. (There’s not a lot to tell…)

“What could it be?” Dave asks.

“Beats the hell out of me.” Dirk frowns a bit, running a hand through his hair.

“We gotta check it out. His dad could be in serious trouble.” Dave states, surprising you.

“That’s obvious.” Dirk says flatly as he stands, “Get some gear.”

“Should we bring Harley and English along?” Dave himself now runs a hand through his hair, frowning a bit as he thinks.

“It might help, yeah. Go find them.” Dirk pauses, glancing over at you. “What about John?”

“It might be best if he stays here. If someone wants his dad, they may want him too.”

You frown a bit, growing irritated. They’re talking about you like you’re not standing right there! “No!” You announce, causing them both to look at you in surprise. “It’s my dad, and my house! I’m coming and that’s final!”

You stand and head for the library door, pausing for a second to look back at them. “Besides, you don’t even know where I live. Now come on!”

You hear Dirk say faintly as you push open the door and march out into the hall, “Why couldn’t you have just brought home a puppy like a normal person?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you liked this chapter! Oho, things are starting to pick up and then we get to meet Jade & Jake! (Hehe)  
> Also! This fanfiction now has its own blog on Tumblr! I'm totally up for fanart, ideas, cosplay, or constructive criticism that you may have! Just submit or ask them to the blog below! (I also try to post updates there, so if you're wondering how it's coming, take a look!)   
> Hopefully I can get out the next chapter soon! Ttfn!
> 
> (Here's the blog's url...)   
>  http://shadowhunterstuck.tumblr.com/


	5. New Friends and New Enemies

Your name is Dave Strider and you really need to find some way to get John to stay here, at the Institute. You’ve got to. It’s too dangerous for him, not to mention he has no experience whatsoever.

But he did make a few good points back there…

Damn it.

You frown as you follow him out of the library. “John! Hold it. Stop walking, dude.” John stops and looks back at you, frowning.

“I’m going, so don’t bother trying to talk me out of it.” He huffs, and you run a hand through your hair, thinking for a moment. What to say to him…

“It’s just… We have no idea what we’re getting into here. It could be demons, or vampires… Maybe werewolves… We just don’t know.” You glance up at him, seeing his frown soften a bit.

“I know it could be a lot of weird stuff that I haven’t even started learning about yet. Let’s find out what it is together, okay? I just…” John pauses, nibbling on his lower lip. After a moment’s thought, he says, “I’m just really worried about my dad and I can’t stand the thought of not going. If it was Dirk, you’d want to go right?”

He trains those big blue puppy dog eyes on you and you know there’s no way you can say no to that face. You swallow before muttering, “Okay.” His face lights up a bit as you continue, “Just promise you’ll do what I say, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt doin’ something stupid.”

John nods. “Okay. I can do that, Dave.” You nod, and start walking down the hallway. You hear John’s footsteps behind you, a quick, somewhat steady rhythm. It could almost be the beat to a song…

You shake out the thought before you start humming a tune. As good as you’re sure the tune would be, this isn’t really the time for it.    

“So. Where exactly are we going again?” He asks, pulling you from your thoughts.

“I was just going to check the armory, and then the training room. Either of them could be in one of those two rooms,” You shrug a bit as you keep walking forward.

There’s quiet between the two of you for a little bit, seeing as the two of you are lost in your own thoughts. You keep sneaking glances over at John, who’s busy nibbling on his lip. If you had to guess, you would say that he’s really worried about his dad. But, being the little trooper he is, he’s trying to hide it. God bless his soul. You have no idea what happened to his dad, and you’re almost a bit nervous to find out. Or rather, you would be if Striders go nervous. (Which they don’t, FYI.)

Suddenly there’s a loud voice calling for you from down the hallway. You feel John scoot closer to your side as you look up to thankfully see one of the two people you’re looking for.

“Dave! There you are, my good lad! Have you seen your brother about? I’ve been meaning to… Oh! Who’s that with you? I don’t believe we’ve met!” You cast a quick glance down at John as the one and only Jake English walks up to the pair of you, giving John a smile.

John hesitates a moment before sticking out his hand, “I’m John.”

You watch as Jake grasps John’s hand and gives it a hearty shake. “Jacob Thomas Lightwood, at your service! Although I usually just go by Jake English.” Jake releases John’s hand and gives him the old, well known, ‘double-pistols-and-a-wink’.  

John smiles a bit, “It’s nice to meet you, Jake.”

“Why, the same to you chap! So! Do tell! What brings you here?”

You clear your throat, interjecting. “Jake, where’s Jade? It’d be best if I explained everything to the two of you at the same time.”

Jake furrows his brows, trying to figure out what could be wrong. “She should still be up in the training room…”

“Well then let’s head up there,” you say as you begin walking again. You hear Jake and John both quickly follow, Jake saying something along the lines of ‘now wait up, Strider!’

You keep striding onward to the training room, listening to John and Jake make small talk behind you. They soon discover that they both have a passion for movies, and that’s all they start talking about. You cringe a little mentally when they both get really excited over a crappy movie, but wisely keep your mouth shut. You’ve gotten into movie debates with Jake before, and you really don’t want to get in one now that there’s two on that side. Maybe later, when Dirk and Jade are with you…

Speaking of Jade… You stop at the training room door and glance back at the two following you. “Hey. I need you two to shut up about whatever the hell it is you’re talkin’ about. We’re here.” John looks at the door, clearly curious to see what’s inside.

“Ah! Are we here already? Well then! John, you and I must finish this thrilling discussion later,” Jake smiles. John smiles back as he nods.

You, on the other hand, simply frown a bit as you turn and push open the door. “Jaaaaade,” you call as you walk inside, “Yo Jade! You in here?” You hear the two enter behind you, and John gasp quietly. You guess you can understand how he’s so impressed, it’s a massive room and the equipment is pretty sweet. It doesn’t impress you too much, but you’ve been training in here for years.

“Hey cool kid!” A voice rings across the room, breaking you away from your thoughts, “What brings you to here? You wanna train together or something?”

You give Jade a small smile as she walks up to you. “Nah. As awesome as that’d be, we’ve got shit to do. This is John.” You gesture to the boy behind you.

“Hi John! It’s nice to meet you. My name is Jade.” Jade smiles as she shakes John’s hand.

“Great okay everyone’s been introduced. Here we go. Story time.” You take a deep breath, then launch into an explanation about why John’s here and who he is. You wrap up by telling them about the phone call, and how all of you need to go and see what’s wrong. By the end of your story, Jade’s face is set into a determined look.

“Right. We need to go get what we need, now.” Jade pauses, then turns to John. “John, I’m so super sorry that all of this is happening to you at once. But don’t worry! We’ll help you through this!” She flashes John a smile before turning and taking off out into the hall.

“Thank you..” John calls out, watching her walk away. Jake smiles a bit before hurrying off after Jade, calling over his shoulder that they’ll meet you in front of the Institute when they’re ready. You turn to John once they’re gone.

“I have to go get some weapons,” You explain as you nod to the door.

John nods. “Okay.” You sidestep around him and head back out and down the hall, John right behind you. The armory isn’t far from the training room, so in no time you’re digging around the blades, trying to find some good swords. John’s wandering about the room, looking at everything.

“So you really use all of this stuff to fight demons?”

You glance over your shoulder at him before nodding. “Majority of it, yeah.”

There’s a moment for quiet for a bit, then John speaks up again, “Do you like hunting demons?”

You pause, staring down at the seraph blade in your hands. “I… I dunno. Sometimes I don’t but other times… It feels like I’m doing something important. Like… I know that I’m helping someone. Yet at the same time I don’t want my life to be in danger all the time and I just want to live a normal life…” You look over at John. “Does that make sense?”

John thinks for a minute or two before nodding. “Yeah, it does.”

You nod as well before frowning at him. “That was pretty deep, so you can’t tell anyone I said that shit. We cool?”

John smiles. “Yeah man. We’re totally cool.” You allow yourself to smile as well as you put the seraph blade in the sheath on your hip. This kid’s the greatest.     

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Your name is John Egbert, and you’re really, really scared to do this. And yet there’s something else, something just hidden under that fear. Excitement? Eagerness? Hell if you know. It’s hard as hell to figure out your feelings and give directions at the same time.

“Turn left up here.” You point at the street a little bit ahead of the car and glance over at Dirk in the driver's seat to make sure he caught that. You see him nod, so you lower your arm. A quick glance in the rearview mirror shows Dave, Jade, and Jake all crowded in the back seat of the small car, weapons and all. Dave’s still pouting due to the fact that you got to ride shotgun and not him. Whatever! You need to give directions!

Oh! Speaking of which… “Take the next right, then it’s the third house on the left.” You turn to look out the window, watching your house come into view. … Huh. You frown slightly, wondering why it doesn’t look destroyed at all.

“What the hell…?” Dirk mutters, and you know he’s thinking the same thing you are.Dirk carefully parks the car and for a few minutes all of you just kind of stare up at your house.  

You pause for a minute more, then quickly push open the car door and quickly climb out of the car. You hear Dave and all of the others call and yell after you, but you don’t hear them as you run up the steps. You let out a gasp when there’s a hand on your shoulder, turning you around. You stare up into Dave’s shades as he frowns down at you.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He hisses at you. You frown right back up at him.

“I’m going to see if I can find my dad!” You argue back.

“John you can’t just walk into the damn house like nothing’s wrong! What if there’s something in there huh? Do you want to be killed?”

“I want to find out if my dad’s okay!”

Dave takes a deep breath, obviously trying to calm himself down, “John… I know you really care about your dad and want to make sure he’s okay… But the last thing that your dad would want is for something to happen to you, right?”   

You frown for a moment, trying to come up with a good argument. “Well… Um…”

“Exactly. Let’s just think up a plan before we go charging in. Alright?” Dave gently rubs your shoulder as you nod a bit.

“Right.” Dave gives you a small ghost of a smile before turning and calling to the others, who are busy getting out gear from the car. You guess they saw that Dave had you under control and decided to get ready. Your eyes flicker over all of the swords, and even a bow with a quiver of arrows. You freeze, then quickly look over at one of your neighbors house. Jesus, what they hell are they going to think??

Dave gently leads you back to the car as you keep nervously glancing over at the houses near your own.Jake seems to notice as the others talk.

“Something wrong, chap?” Jake stops adjusting the sword on his belt to tilt his head curiously at you.     

“Well… Uh…” You shift for a moment before saying, “I do have neighbors… And here you guys are with a crap ton of dangerous weapons, most of which are probably illegal…”

Jake gives you this lopsided grin as he says, “Why you have nothing to worry about, my dear fellow! Take a look here…” Jake pauses before yanking up the sleeve of his shirt,, showing you his bare forearm. He points to a black rune that doesn’t really stand out from the rest. “See? This is an ‘unseen’ mark, and this one,” here he pauses to point to another, “and this one means ‘soundless’.” You study the marks, trying to remember them.

“Huh… So… I just look like I’m standing here by myself…?” You ask, looking back up at Jake’s face.

Jake shrugs. “I suppose so, yes.”

“Huh.” You look around once again, then try to act casual.

“Alright then,” It’s Dirk addressing all of you now, “Let’s see what the hell’s going on here. Remember, no wandering off.” Here he pauses to look at you to make his point before going on, “We gotta stay together. We’re stronger as a team. Don’t even think about trying to go off and fight anything on your own.” Here he stops to look at both Dave as well as Jake. Dirk takes a deep breath before finishing, “Don’t forget to use your sensors. Let’s go.”

You glance up at Dave as the two of you follow the rest of the shadowhunters. “What’s a sensor?”

Dave glances down at you before showing you a sleek black object that kinda looks like a cell phone. “This. We shadowhunters use them to… Well… Sense demons. They let us know when a demon is close by. It’s really helpful, actually.” You study the object on Dave’s hands.

“Okay, that’s pretty cool…” You look up at the front of your house.

“Nervous?” Dave asks you, and you glance up at him sheepishly.

“Yeah, I kinda am… I just… I just hope my dad’s okay…” Dave pauses, then lightly pats your shoulder.

“I do too,” he says softly, “Your dad must be a really great guy.”

You look up at him. “What makes you think that?” You know your dad is amazing… But you are curious as to why Dave thinks so…

“Well he raised you didn’t he? And you’re pretty great. So, I figure he did something pretty damn right.” You feel your cheeks grow warm as Dave smiles down at you.

“Thanks… I hope you get a chance to tell him that,” you smile back up at him as the two of you stop at the front door. Jade is holding up one of the sensors, obviously seeing if it’s safe. After a couple of minutes she shrugs.

“I got nothing.” Jade hesitantly turns back to the door and tries the handle. “It’s unlocked!” She announces as she carefully pushes the door open.

You almost can’t believe the horror that lies inside awaiting you.

Everything that you can see thus far in your house is destroyed. Your dad’s harlequin statues are smashed, the pictures are ripped from the wall, and the couch is torn to shreds. When you and the others hesitantly step into the home, you see also that the bastards even toppled the urn that held your nanna’s ashes.

“Good lord…” Jake breaths quietly as he looks at all of the destruction. You can’t bring yourself to say anything. You just look around in shock. How could anyone do this…?

There’s quiet for a moment before Jade says, “Let’s look around and see if they left anything behind. Whoever they are.” You glance over at Jade, seeing her face set in grim determination. You think it’s that exact moment when you decided that you really like Jade. There’s just… Something about her that you really like.

Dave nods a bit, and starts walking towards the office. You follow along with everyone else. A small gasp escapes you when you see that the destruction continues in here as well. They even ripped apart the piano…

“Oh my god…” You whisper, looking around the room, “The safe… Just look at what they did…” The safe is completely destroyed, you wouldn’t even have guessed that there was ever a safe there unless you had already know.

“Don’t worry, John.” It’s Jake who’s trying to comfort you know, “We’ll find out who did this.” You nod a bit, not trusting your voice. They’re all being so supportive…

You turn and head back out into the living room, trying to swallow past the lump in your throat. You hear someone moving to follow you, but Dirk says softly, “The sensors aren’t going off, it should be fine. Just give him a minute.”

You look around your living room, glad to be alone. God… This is almost too much. Why the hell is this happening to you?? You’ve done nothing wrong in your life! At least… You don’t think so…

You’re so absorbed by your thoughts you don’t hear anyone walk up behind you until there’s a claw at your throat. You let out a surprised squeak, but are quickly silenced. You try to grab at the hand on your throat, clawing and trying to break free.

A voice that sounds almost like silk purrs in your ear as you struggle, “Easy does it now, boy. I would think that you enjoy your head where it is.” The person then cackles, and it echos across the house a bit.

That’s what you think Dave and the others hear the noise, because they enter the room not seconds later. Whoever it is holding you spins around, taking you with it. You stare at the others with wide eyes, wondering if you should apologize or not for your stupidity.  

“Let go of him.” Dave barks, glaring at the person holding you.

“Now why would I want to do a thing like that?” The voice chuckles, and the grip on your neck gets a bit tighter. “Hard to believe I was just sent back here to make sure that nothing was forgotten. Didn’t think I’d stumble across some shadowhunters.”

“Who sent you?” Dirk asks, voice calm.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The person sneers.

“Enough of this, Jack! We outnumber you. Do you really want to test us?” Jade growls, a picture of rage.

The person holding you, Jack, laughs a bit more. “Yes, but I’m the one holding your friend here, aren’t I?”

“Mr. Noir, I do believe that you are in no place to try to argue with us,” Jake snaps, “You came here alone, and my friend is correct when she says we outnumber you.”

Jack snarls as he shoves you toward the others. Dave instantly catches you and hugs you to his chest. You glance back to see a man in a suit, the last thing you expected to see. He notices you looking at him, and he grins, revealing sharp pointed teeth.

“Surprised, shadowscum? I would show you my true form, but I don’t want you to piss yourself in front of your friends.” Jack Noir then laughs, throwing his head back. Jade steps between Jack and you and Dave. She grabs her sword and points it at the man.

“Who sent you.”

Jack pauses, watching her. “Are you trying to threaten me, little girl?”

Jade doesn’t budge. “Who. Sent. You.”

Jack grins. “Idiots, all of you. Who do you think? Of whom were you told stories at night, hmm? Who is it you were told to fear?” He’s yelling by the time he finishes.

Jade falters a bit. “What…”   

“My wonderful and powerful lord! His mighty Lord English sent me, wretched Nephilim!” Jack yells, his voice echoing throughout the whole house.

“Impossible. Even if that were true, you hate Lord English,” Dirk says. You glance over at him. Even he seems more tense than usual…

“Don’t you understand? I want to be on the winning side. There’s going to be a war, shadowscum. I would advise you to try to be on the right side as well, but that won’t be necessary. Not when I can kill you here, myself.” Here Jack grins that pointed grin of his as he lunges himself at Jade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd here's chapter 5! Sorry it took so long, but I did try to make it longer than usual to make it worth the wait! I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! If you have any questions/comments/demands to make me write faster, please let me know! You're free to send a message to my Tumblr (http://paradox-clones.tumblr.com/)! I'll also try to do story updates/let you know how it's coming on there as well! Alright! That's it! Again, thanks for reading!
> 
> ~~Edit!~~  
> There is now a blog on Tumblr just for the fanfiction/AU! Updates on how the story is coming are posted every Tuesday, Chapters are also posted when they come out, and if you have any fanart/fanfictions of your own I would be glad to post/reblog them on there if you would submit them!  
> Here's the link!  
> http://shadowhunterstuck.tumblr.com/


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